This invention relates generally to support garments and particularly to an athletic garment for the support and protection of the inguinal area of a human male.
Athletic supporters are in common use to reduce the probability of injury to the scrotum or groin, or inguinal area. Typically, such supporters comprise a cup garment 10, such as one shown in FIG. 1, comprising an elastic waist band 12 and a pouch 14 sewn to the front of the waist band 12 and depending downward from the waist band 12. A pair of leg straps 16 is sewn to the bottom of the pouch 14 and to opposite sides of the waist band 12 at positions removed from the top of the pouch 14. The pouch 14 has a top-opening pocket 18, disposed to open to one of either the front or rear of the pouch 18, that receives a rigid shield or "cup" 20. The cup 20 has perforations 22, to give the cup 20 lightness, and foam padding 24 stretched around its rim.
In use, the cup 20, held in position over the inguinal area by the supporter 10, protects the inguinal areas from localized blows. However, the cup 20 has a hard edge that rests against a wearer's body and, even with the padding 24 and the thickness of the pouch 14, can dig into the user's body after receiving a localized bow. In addition, the cup's edge can chafe against the wearer's skin during the athletic activity. It has proven difficult to eliminate chafing using a rigid cup because the rigidity that makes the cup 20 effective protection against localized blows also causes the cup 20 to be unyielding against the body of an athlete who is performing extreme leg, hip and pelvic movements typical during athletic activity. In addition, the foam padding 24 itself is relatively thin and semi-rigid, especially about the rim of the cup 20, and can not compensate for the rigidity of the cup 20. It does not have enough "give" to accommodate the wide range of movements made by an athlete.
A number of improvements to cup design have been suggested. U.S. Pat. No. 1,830,572, to Taylor, describes an athletic supporter having a rigid, unyielding cup with an inner rim of sponge rubber and rests on additional pads to assist in distributing the rearward force of blows. The cup is cemented to an outwardly facing chamber filled with gas under pressure to distribute forces over the entire surface area of the cup. Such padding ameliorates the above-described discomforts to a certain extent, but chafing is not eliminated and the cup's edge can still be felt after receiving a hard blow. Therefore, such devices reduce the probability of injury to a certain extent, but, being rigid, the cups can not provide protection against chafing during extreme athletic activity.
Gel materials have been used in the past in athletic devices to protect against the chafing brought on by constant or near constant contact against hard surfaces. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,505 discloses the use of gel filled pads in the seat portion of a pair of boxer shorts to act as a seat cushion for invalids or audience members at sporting events. In addition, gel pads have been used in sports equipment (such as in bicycle gloves, bicycle seats, running shoes, and ice skates). While these provide some protection against chafing from constant and near constant contacts, typically they have been incorporated into applications involving a limited range of body movements. In addition, they have not been incorporated into applications requiring protection from localized blows having great force.